


More Trouble Than You're Worth

by caffeinatedmusing



Series: The Care and Feeding of Vampires [2]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Monsters, Other, Vampires, blood and wine dlc, geralt takes a contract, katakans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 12:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9491843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caffeinatedmusing/pseuds/caffeinatedmusing
Summary: Wrote a little something for velvettodraws on tumblrThanks for sharing your cute and humorous art- it never fails to cheer me up.(posted on tumblr 1/27/2017)Go check out their adorable blood and wine related arts and vampire meta.





	

Spitting out dirt, Geralt rolled over and swiftly got back to his feet, feeling tightness where muscles had been wrenched and bruised. 

Roach had thrown him.

To be fair, the attack had surprised Geralt as well.

Tracking the faint rustle of movement, he drew his silver blade free and shifted his weight in preparation to pitch himself into another roll if need be. He couldn’t see his attacker. Whatever it was had been much larger than him and he’d been left with an impression of speed and fur and carrion reek and now it was masking itself, invisible. 

The villagers had lost three full grown men and several children in the last month alone but they hadn’t been able to give him a clear description. Just the usual amorphous fear from people leaving and never coming back, screams echoing in the night. _No wonder._

The bodies had either been in pieces or not recovered at all.

The odors of decomposition and spilled blood had served to lead him out this far, to a cliff face craggy and pitted with alcoves and caves. _Great spot for a monster to lair._ And to ambush, apparently. It must have heard Roach because the wind was blowing his scent in the other direction… _But what kind was it?_

A blur of movement that would have been imperceptible to human eyes and the faint rush of air was all the warning he got before that same large thing took another swipe at him. Side stepping, he cut swiftly and whirled about to recover to a defensive guard, trying to anticipate its location. _Vampire. Had to be. But what kind…._

A moment later the katakan revealed itself and the fight got underway in earnest. They circled, struck, dodged and parried. Geralt kept moving, keeping his shielding Quen sign active. 

Long talons raked sparks across it, the shield nearly collapsed, and blood spattered the ground in the trail of his blade; runes flashed in the fading light of the setting sun. When he cleared enough distance to risk it, he tossed back a potion of black blood. Just in case.

The vampire was fast and powerful but not much for endurance. It was used to catching its prey in an overwhelming rush and feasting soon after. He got in a serious cut across its abdomen, all the way up across its arm. He expected that it would flee back into its cavern, try to hide and protect itself. 

Shrieking, it tried to circle, instead backing away, further out into the open. _Odd._ If he didn’t know better, he could swear that the vampire was trying to lead him away from those caves.

Several minutes later the creatures head was secured and dripping gore onto Roach’s flank. He decided to check the cave, on the off chance there was another laired away up there.

Stepping into the cool darkness, he waited for a moment for his eyes to adjust. Heading deeper in, he noticed the telltale bits of chewed and broken bones, animal and human. They crunched under his boots. The pungent stench of carnivore hung in the air. All the smell told him was that at least one katakan had lived here for some time. Months, if not years.

A sound, then. High and strident. Almost out of his hearing.

He turned and headed in the direction it had come from. Near total darkness now. His eyes dilated even more and he could just make out the edges of a roughly rounded heap of cloth scraps, leaves, twigs, fur and bones, a few shiny bits gleaming here and there; the katakan’s nest. 

A small motion caught his attention. Focusing, he could hear….something thumping fast…rapid little heartbeats? Rats, maybe, taking the opportunity to scavenge any leftovers while the beast was away.

It didn’t smell like rodents…

Approaching, he kept his sword at the ready in case any nasty surprises lay in wait. 

But all that sat at the center of the nest were three small round fluff balls with comical oversized ears and skinny little limbs, huddled together to stay warm. Cold and unhappy at being left alone, they blinked up at him in suspicion.

“…. _baby katakans_? Damnit! What am I supposed to do with you?” 

No wonder the adult, _must be a female_ ; he reasoned, had been acting to get him away from her nest. It also explained the body count. Three growing mouths to feed.

He raised his sword. The contract had only specified one monster. He wouldn’t get paid for these. But better to kill them now rather than leave them to starve. 

One of the babies squeaked again. They were probably getting hungry. Cursing, he sheathed the blade. 

Riding back some time later, he skirted around the village. He’d turn the contract in tomorrow. The fall he taken earlier was catching up to him; he could feel aches and pains settling in. 

And his new charges were sleeping soundly, cuddled up and out of sight in the makeshift sling he’d rigged from a spare cloak out of one of his saddlebags. No reason to wake them. They were likely to be more alert at night anyhow and it was already after sunset. Marlene must have some raw beef or chicken that he could feed them. And he’d have to send word and hope to catch Regis before he got too far out from Beauclair. 

He could imagine all too well what his fellow witchers would have to say about this.

“You’re going to be more trouble than you’re worth, aren’t you?” 

A soft chirring sound sleepily agreed with him from somewhere inside the cloak.

**Author's Note:**

> Because we could all use a little more fluff rn.


End file.
